Players who abandon after 1.d4

About 6 months ago I decided I would expand my opening repertoire to include a few d4 openings. I had been playing 1. e4 almost exclusively for about a year and decided to branch out.

As soon as I did, however, I’ve noticed that many of my opponents disconnect or abandon their games turn 1.

I know that e4 is the most common first move at my rating (see profile) so are people just abandoning the game because they don’t have anything prepared for d4? Or is it just confirmation bias on my part? I know there are no Elo adjustments for abandoned games, but this sort of “strategy” of not playing the game out is kind of pathetic.

Any other d4 players out there noticed this?

That's actually a good idea

1. d4!! (1-0)

I have had it happen a lot, it seems like some people can not handle1.d4 they just want to play Ruy Lopez or Sicilian games!

I used to hate 1.c4 but there were several guys from the same club near me that only played that, after a while I got used to the English and really do not mind it!

Sometimes, people don't like what you play. That's why they disconnect or abandon the games.

Sucks, doesn't, when you have to wait for like 30 mins?

I just hate it when they abandon a game in a losing position. 

That's why, if they disconnect in a losing position, I block them.

Good strategy to use if you're getting frustrated of this.

 

I wasn't, but I really dislike playing against d4. I do worse against it then pretty much any other first move, as the positions it leads to tend to be frustratingly solid for white. This often means I have to play a long hard positional game to hope to win in the end game, where I would much rather prefer to crush my opponent with a sharp tactic in the opening or middle game. Don't worry though, I don't abandon the games because I hope to punish them for their choice of opening.

The problem I have with d4 is that it prevents e5, which is like 95% of my opening theory. c4 doesn't do this, so I don't really mind.

95% of theory I know as black starts with 1....e5.

I'm not a high rated player by any means, but in my opinion chess is about losing, not winning.  You learn far more from a loss than a win, so if 1d4 is a tough opening for you, then you should cherish that moment as an opportunity to improve.  Just this humble man's opinion.  

I like your outlook, I should definitely try to adapt that kind of mindset.

It's pretty obvious why you'd quit after seeing 1. d4 whenever possible, since you know if your opponent plays d4, they're going to do everything in their control to trade queens and play for a draw. It's not a fun way to play.

d4 does not prevent e5.

It's actually a well known gambit.

Englund.

 

A gambit well known to be terrible

Well that gambit is very different from the e5 lines I'm familiar with, so I would get out of my "book" either way.

I thought i also noticed this.  ( I am a beginner who opens almost exclusively Queens pawn) However when i look at games that actually started there is certainly not more games played as black, which there would be if if there were significant refusals to play black for ANY reason, let alone D4. Yup so it's all in the mind.

Grenaider23 hat is your rating?

- what